Spalwart

Ever stumbled upon a long-lost footwear factory in the depths of deepest Slovakia? Nope, we haven’t either, but we can tell you who have — the adventurous Swedes at Spalwart. And whereas most people would have simply taken a few quick snapshots on their phone and called it a day, this lot decided to fire up the old machines, dust off the moulds and bring the factory back to life.

The resulting shoes aren’t ‘faithful reproductions’ and they’re not ‘tasteful homages’ — they’re just shoes made exactly the same as they were back in 1956. They’re not as neat as something that’s just fired off the end of a modern-day production line, but that’s sort of the point. Who wants perfection when you can have something with as much character as this?